.oOo.
After the day of ritual fasting, the Caïd left for the Ramlond. There he found a captain to embark him to Gondor, land to which he owed all his torments.
The crossing was rough.
That year, the summer storms had started very early. The convoy of merchant ships, having suffered some damage, had to stop at Tolfalas. Scents of rockrose, sage and broom came down from the hills of the island, as if carried by the multicolored butterflies. The scrubland sparkled with yellow and white flowers, reflected by the calm waters of the bay.
The Caïd, amazed by this green landscape, came ashore. But he did not like the retrograde habits and the narrow-minded islanders, and preferred to reboard as soon as possible. The captain explained to him that consanguinity limited somehow the openness of the poor buggers, and that the pirate raids that fed the slave markets of the far south, had made them suspicious. Hadhar thought that the misfortunes of men were sown by the world, with the same prodigality as the blessings of the Goddess.
The manners of the Gondorian passengers astonished the Caïd, but he got along very well with the sailors, since their indispensable cohesion aboard, in front of the ocean, looked much alike the customs of the desert. Men entrusted their lives to vessels, whether desert or sea. Merchants were grouped to better protect themselves from looters. In both oases and havens, everyone had to bow to the rules and abuses of local potentates. There was a risk of getting lost in the salty expanses as well as in the deserts of dunes, and as well dying of thirst. And of course, the storms were formidable in both cases. Hadhar was astonished at this spontaneous fraternity, and praised the Goddess for having opened his eyes.
Approaching the white cliffs of Gondor, part of the ships left the fleet to engage in a steep estuary to the north, while the remaining ships followed the lighthouses along the coast of Lebennin, heading east to the delta of Anduin.
The following night the lookouts announced some signals from the Gondorian coastguard.
The hull of the felucca moaned as the warship boarded them. Hadhar believed his last hour arrived, he humbly prayed the Goddess in the commotion and the quartermaster's whistles. Soldiers embarked to search the ship from bow to stern, and the vessel was stopped until morning.
Hadhar discovered a horizon of lagoons and long sandy islands, invaded by seabirds. Then the passengers were interrogated one by one, on the deck, and the import taxes of the merchants were established. The terrible efficiency of the royal Gondor bureaucracy impressed the Caïd.
But he was not at the end of his surprises: the entire crew and all the passengers were also auscultated, in front of everyone! Our brave Hadhar intervened, ready to draw his sword, in order to protect the modesty of a lady, when her turn came to be examined by the doctor, but said matron vigorously scolded him: she had no time to lose and was the "no-frills" kind of a lady! And the jovial woman added:
- You seem to me a fine ticklish sword ! I have something to heal you down here, you should come and see me! she said and spiced her glances with a few grotesque jeers, used in Ramlond brothels, and that decency forbids to report here ...
What impudence! A faint red lit the Caïd's face and his moustache crinkled with indignation! Hadhar was about to huff when he remembered he had made a vow of humility for being forgiven. He sat down again, and waited his turn philosophically, under the crew's laughter.
The captain of the felucca explained to the Caïd that these were regular procedures against smuggling and epidemics, but Hadhar felt miffed, and gave up bonding with these people of flawed modesty!
A pilot remained on board, and the convoy resumed its course, swaying between the delta shoals, and docked two days later at Pelargir.
.oOo.
The immensity of the city struck the Caïd in the heart. Hadhar had a terrible glimpse of the power of Gondor. Hundreds of vessels of all sizes, wharves and docks as far as the eye could see, huge warehouses full of activity, battalions of soldiers leaving for distant lands, others returning laden with stuffs, a multitude of stalls of all kinds, an unparalleled shipyard, goods from the four corners of the horizon... He wandered a little, stunned by these palaces and domes, the labyrinths of endless streets, these powerful canals irrigating the city, these fortifications thicker and higher than those of the borj of his native mountains! And the majestic rectitude of the tree-lined avenues, like a hymn to the grandeur of the kings who had built them!
To tell the truth, this first contact shook Hadhar a little. How lost he felt in the immensity of this unknown city! Fortunately, from time to time, he came across some passers-by dressed in the same way as him. He greeted them ceremoniously, hoping to get acquainted. But all of them, women and men, quickly passed their way after they answered - or not! People were constantly running in the big city ...
When he had recovered from his stupefaction, the Caïd gathered his courage and asked his way to the royal palace. He was answered, with a rather condescending smile, that it would be appropriate for him, first to go to the capital, Osgiliath, several dozen leagues upstream!
Our Caïd, naive visitor just landed from his province, was like bellowed by this revelation. Hadhar thanked gravely, but had to appeal to the Goddess in order not to faint. So, there was a city even more magnificent than the great port of Pelargir! The Caïd had an emotional thought for the Uncle, when the old man had urged him to question his beliefs... Fortunately for him, it was time for devotions, and a compatriot told him the location of a fountain, where his fellows passing through the great city, used to gather and honour the Goddess - Blessed be her name! Thus Adhar was able to find refuge in meditation and receive some good advice.
.oOo.
The next day, the Caïd went up in a coach bound for the capital. He had been told that was the cheapest means of transportation, and he had felt obliged, as a modest pilgrim in a foreign land, to accommodate the local customs.
It goes without saying that this prolonged promiscuity was hardly to his liking! To his left, an imposing lady was constantly spreading disgusting things on her big loaves of bread, liberally offering her rillettes to the company. On his right, a small clerk, all gray and wrinkled, sorted and re-sorted the contents of a large wallet, while grumbling and stinking - a mixture of rancid ink, sealing wax and stomach ailment.
He found, seated just in front of him – to make things worse - the licentious creature he had had the misfortune to rescue on the ship! Outragedly molded in a frilly dress, the beautiful Inurui babbled without disarming, staring coquettish glances from below, at the confused Caïd, every time the jolts of the road shook her advantageous chest with a lascivious swing. Appealing to her neighbors - an old phlegmatic corporal and a young rather mannered gentleman, both very attentive to the balloting of the coach - she lectured about the meanness of men, she had known intimately during her "voyages in the south ", and proved her theories with strong lived examples.
Hadhar tried to focus on the green landscape: his dignity obviously forbade him to eavesdrop such gross comments! Yet, deep inside him, he had to admit that the sharp and disillusioned gaze of the adventurer lacked neither lucidity nor a certain indulgence towards the human kind. He blamed himself for that impious thought, but he found in Inurui the exuberant, many similarities with the mature face of the Three Sisters- Goddess, dispenser of life and forgiveness.
It goes without saying the Caïd kept his thoughts for himself, preserving the decorum that should have been complied with in this overcrowded coach - All truth was not worthy to say!
With all the grace he could find in his heart, Hadhar bore this other form of crossing, and consoled himself at every halt, marvelling at the pleasant valleys of Lebennin, the profusion of running water, the fresh and luxuriant gardens. This land was so rich that the believer could doubt the Goddess really gave preference to her own people, who worshiped her!
But the Caïd thanked the Goddess for this ordeal! The love for his land would never leave him, and it was right that the Goddess should be worshiped where her blessings were needed ...
Hadhar was astonished at the pour piety of the inhabitants. So he reiterated ablutions and devotions at each stage, drawing comfort from the repetition of the millennial rite, even though he could not fulfill them at the hours prescribed by the moon.
A girl came to draw water from the fountain. Hadhar thought of his own daughter. May the Goddess guide her in his absence!
A young man came to help the girl to carry her amphora. Hadhar thought of his own son. The Goddess allow him back home!
The amphora was quite small and the two young people had crossed at the fountain, seemingly by chance ... Both smiled at each other as they walked side by side, very slowly, towards the girl's home. Hadhar thought that the pretext was rather thin and that the young people looked alike in every country.
And that thought fed hope in him.
.oOo.
The leagues had passed quickly, under the trees shades along the paved road of Gondor
Suddenly Hadhar saw a great city erected on the side of the mountain. Its white walls rose by degrees, on both sides of a huge rock, overhung by a citadel bristling with towers. Above it all culminated a majestic summit, wrapped in its snow turban and its cloud scarf, capturing the golden rays of the ending afternoon
The little clerk, who happened to like the Caïd very much, explained to him with the compunction of a notary, that this was only a stronghold, an annex of the capital, that would soon be seen further on the right, as soon as the coach would drive down to the river again.
The white city, like a stone sentinel, projected a protecting shade on the rich countryside around. Hadhar could not figure the strength of a capital, protected by such an outpost!
But he had no time to ponder this further : the post house stop was short, the passengers changed for a bigger coach, pulled by eight great horses. Several inhabitants joined them for Osgiliath, the capital city of Gondor.
.oOo.
Less than two hours later, everybody went down on a great square, paved with light stone. All around, marble palaces rivalled with magnificence, the golden domes enlightened the sculptures in the evening blue. The least building radiated opulence, showing the imperial splendors of an art that Harad had forgotten.
The city was swarming with people. The numenorean tunics mixed with the Rhovanion outfits and the southern robes. The women strutted with extravagant hairstyles in the boutiques, among the luxury artisans and rare materials importers. The nobility mingled with civil servants and officers, the foreign visitors and the student youth. Dotted with parks and fountains, the neighborhoods mingled with elegance, art workshops, universities and chanceries. Town houses and fancy inns bordered the avenues in a farandole of sumptuous facades.
Maybe Osgiliath was not as huge as the heaven-city of Pelargir. But it attracted the most refined goods manufactured by Gondor or its main partners. The town evoked what Numenor must have been before its downfall…
While throwing his bundle to the Caïd from the rooftop, the coachman indicated an inn his fellow countrymen usually chose: the sign of the blue crescent.
Hadhar had a hard time finding it! He had to ask for his way many times, cross the river and explore some picturesque streets. He lost himself in dark alleys and had to unsheathe his saber in order to discourage some pickpockets. He was about to chastise a thief for trying to spike him, when his sacrilege and his guilt came back to his mind. So the Caïd held back his arm and let the lad flee. Everywhere under the skies, crime follows opulence, he told himself.
The pilgrim sheathed his sword and, thanks to his generous alms, he finally arrived safely.
When he reached his room - a cramped but clean roof slope, as fits a humble pilgrim - the Caïd fulfilled his devotions, thanking for arriving so far, and hoping for the morrow.
.oOo.
NOTES